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| Byun Hee-soo, center, a former staff sergeant who was forcibly discharged after a sex change operation, holds a press conference in Seoul, in this Aug. 11, 2020 photo. Yonhap |
By Bahk Eun-ji
The nation's human rights watchdog said Tuesday that it has recommended that the Army cancel its decision to discharge a staff sergeant who underwent a sex change operation, saying the forcible discharge infringed on the person's human rights.
The Army, however, said the forcible discharge was a "legitimate administrative measure."
According to the Center for Military Human Rights Korea, a civic group, the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) recommended that the Army reverse its decision to discharge former sergeant Byun Hee-soo, and that the Ministry of National Defense revise related regulations in order to prevent a recurrence of such cases.
The recommendation came after the commission concluded, in a December meeting, that the Army's decision not to allow Byun to continue serving in the military as a female soldier had no legal grounds.
Byun, who underwent surgery to change sex from male to female in November 2019, expressed the intention to continue serving in the military. But the Army judged that Byun's removal of his male genitalia classified the soldier under a Level 3 physical disability under military law and then discharged Byun on Jan. 22, 2020.
The civic group filed a petition alleging the Army's forced discharge discriminated against transgender people, and the case drew widespread attention both at home and abroad as the nation's first case of an active-duty soldier undergoing sex reassignment surgery.
"A person who underwent sex reassignment surgery for the purpose of matching his or her body and gender identity cannot be considered as having a mental or physical disability," the commission said.
"We cannot recognize the correlation between the surgery and service suitability as there are already a number of female soldiers working with the rank of staff sergeant and as tank drivers just like Byun did," it said.
Despite the recommendation from the rights watchdog, the Army maintains that there was no problem with the decision to discharge Byun.
"We respect the commission's recommendation, but the discharge of former staff sergeant Byun was a legitimate administrative decision made under relevant laws," an Army official said. "We'll take necessary steps in the future according to the result of a relevant lawsuit."
After the discharge, Byun filed the suit with the Daejeon District Court in August to annul the decision and the trial is ongoing.
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